Ghouls

Fear of flesh-hungry ghouls keeps people away from graveyards at night. Though the creatures can reason, they seldom listen to what the living say, and would much rather treat them as meals than as friends. Ghouls figure prominently in superstitious tales, and their hunger is legendary. Stories of cannibals turning into ravenous undead still stop many people from eating the dead even in the most desperate of circumstances.

Always searching for the flesh of humanoids, ghouls thrive where people live, and their domains steadily expand as the creatures infect new victims with ghoul fever. This spread can be abrupt or gradual, but either way it stops only when someone seeks out and slays all of the ghouls. Potential victims have good reason to fear ghouls, as dying of ghoul fever is a horrifying fate. From the onset of the disease, an insatiable hunger overcomes the victim, yet her body begins to reject all normal food and drink. If denied food, the victim becomes increasingly desperate and violent as her hunger grows. Feeding the victim flesh from a corpse temporarily alleviates her cravings, but does not slow the onset of the disease. Eventually, the victim's mortal body fails entirely. After the victim finally dies, she wakes up at the next stroke of midnight, obsessed with the hunger for flesh.

Most ghouls are so filled with self-loathing that they have little love for others of their kind. They have a natural tendency to form into packs for defense and hunting, but no trust or love is shared between the members of these packs. Though a ghoul might serve a leader loyally for years, it won't hesitate to betray its leader if doing so results in more frequent meals. Though ghasts are, in their most basic state, more powerful than other ghouls, they rarely take on leadership roles because of their overwhelming aggression. However, when a ghast rises, opportunistic ghouls emboldened by its presence might make attacks against elven communities they would otherwise avoid as difficult targets.

Graveyards have a natural allure to ghouls, and many wind up spending their undead existence dwelling in such places. Small packs of ghouls often live in warrens carved beneath cemeteries where they can dig up corpses to satisfy their cravings for flesh. Graves settling unnaturally or sinkholes in a cemetery are sure signs of a ghoul pack. Some ghouls are content to survive on the flesh of the dead for years at a time, but eventually almost all of them start to hunt the living.

Not all ghouls live in dark warrens under cemeteries, however. In some remote regions, entire cities or nations are populated by ghouls and other undead. The ghouls in these cities consider living humanoids little more than livestock. Though these nations of undead are often ruled by liches or other, more powerful undead, ghouls are known to hold positions of power or even rule in some such places. The rulers of these nations recognize that they cannot hope to win a war against the much more populous nations of living creatures, so arrangements are made with neighbors to trade for slaves or even just corpses. Larger undead nations use humans as slave labor, forcing them to work the farms to feed themselves so they can in turn be served up as meals for their undead masters.

Aquatic ghouls, called lacedons, live within secluded reefs and underground caves near communities of underwater humanoids like grindylows, locathahs, or merfolk. Lacedons are as notorious in the folktales of undersea peoples as ghouls are in those of surface races. Lacedons who prefer easier targets to prey upon primarily dwell near shores or along trade routes, where they suffer through hunger for long stretches of time until a shipwreck provides them with a glorious, gory feast. Lacedons are also more mobile than other ghouls. If they catch the taste of humanoid blood carried by the currents, they can trace it for miles back to the source.

Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell of the necromancy school that deals hit point damage, you are healed of 1 hit point per spell level.

Bloodline Powers: The dark energies that fuel your existence and undying hunger form the basis of your power.

Ghoulish Claws (Su) : Starting at 1st level, you can grow claws as a free action. These claws are treated as natural weapons, allowing you to make two claw attacks as a full attack using your full base attack bonus. Each of these attacks deals 1d4 points of damage + your Strength modifier (1d3 if you are Small). At 5th level, creatures damaged with your claw attack are paralyzed for 1 round, as the ghoul ability (Fortitude negates). At 7th level, the duration of the paralysis increases to 1d4+1 rounds, and the claws are considered magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming DR. You can use your claws for a number of rounds per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.

If you're a ghoul with this bloodline, instead of gaining this ability, your levels in sorcerer stack with your racial Hit Dice when determining the DC of your paralysis and disease special abilities.

Ravenous Frenzy (Ex) : At 9th level, you gain the benefits of haste for a number of rounds per day equal to your sorcerer level. These rounds don't need to be consecutive. Each time you hit a creature with two or more claw attacks during a full attack while affected by this ability, that creature takes 1d4 points of bleed damage.

Earth Crawler (Su) : At 15th level, you gain a burrow speed of 30 feet. Additionally, as long as you are surrounded by at least 5 feet of dirt or natural stone on all sides, you gain fast healing 10. You can heal a number of hit points per day equal to 10 × your sorcerer level with this ability.

Ghoulish Aspect (Su) : At 20th level, you take on aspects of the nature and appearance of ghouls. You no longer feel the need to eat and are immune to hunger (though you are still able to consume flesh if you choose to). You gain immunity to cold, nonlethal damage, paralysis, and sleep. You also gain DR 5/—. Additionally, you gain the stench ability with a radius of 10 feet. Creatures that fail their Fortitude saving throws are sickened for 1d6+4 minutes. Use half your sorcerer level instead of half your racial Hit Dice to determine the saving throw DC.

Ghoul Feats

The following feats open up additional ability options for ghouls.

Bag of Bones

Your undead form ignores the limits of mortal physiology.

Prerequisite: Ghoul.

Benefit: You are treated as one size smaller for the purpose of calculating penalties for squeezing, and gain a +5 competence bonus on Escape Artist checks. If you possess 10 or more Hit Dice, this bonus increases to +4.

Corpse Companion

You have an undead animal companion.

Prerequisites: Animal companion class feature, ghoul.

Benefit: Your animal companion's type changes to undead, but its Hit Dice, base attack bonus, saving throws, skills, and tricks are retained from the base creature. The creature loses its Constitution score and its Charisma score becomes 12. If your companion is destroyed, your new companion is undead as well, using these same modifications.

Old as Dust

You have been dead for so long you have become quite difficult to kill.

Prerequisites: Sleeper, Warren Digger, creature has been a ghoul for at least 500 years.

Benefit: When you are reduced to 0 hit points, you are not destroyed­—you cannot be killed unless your body is completely destroyed with fire or doused in holy water, or you take damage from a cure spell or channeled positive energy after you've been reduced to 0 hit points. Anytime you are reduced to 0 hit points, you remain unconscious until you are healed or until the following midnight, at which time you regain 1 hit point per Hit Die and awaken.

Sleeper

By seeking solace in the grave, you are able to recuperate more quickly.

Prerequisites: Warren Digger, ghoul.

Benefit: You heal 1 hit point per 10 minutes as long as you are surrounded by at least 5 feet of dirt or stone on all sides and take no actions.

Warren Digger

After years spent digging up graves, you are able to move through dirt almost as easily as a fish through water.

Prerequisite: Ghoul.

Benefit: You gain a burrow speed of 10 feet through earth, sand, or soil.

Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Each time you take it, add 10 feet to your burrow speed, up to a maximum of your base land speed.

The target's flesh fills out and gains a healthy, natural color. This gives the target the appearance of a living creature of the type it was when it was still alive (if applicable). Creatures casting spells such as detect undead must succeed at a saving throw (with a DC equal to the spell's save DC) to detect the target's presence, and if the target is intelligent, it gains a +10 bonus on Disguise checks to appear alive or recently deceased. If the undead has any features different from those of the type of living creature it most resembles (such as a ghoul's elongated teeth and claws), those features shrink and become less prominent, and the subject deals damage as though it were one size smaller. This spell has no effect on creatures that are skeletal or otherwise lack flesh.

Hungry Earth

School transmutation; Level druid 5, sorcerer/wizard 5, witch 5

Casting Time 1 standard action

Components V, S

Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)

Area 20-foot-radius spread

Duration 1 round/level

Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no

The ground attempts to pull creatures beneath its surface as if hungry for the flesh of mortals.

Immediately, and at the beginning of each of your turns, every creature touching the ground within the area of the spell is the target of a grapple combat maneuver. Creatures that enter the area of effect are also automatically attacked. The ground does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The earth's CMB is equal to 5 + your caster level for the purpose of this combat maneuver check. Attempt the combat maneuver check only once each round and apply the result to all creatures in the area of effect.

Each time the ground succeeds at a combat maneuver check to grapple a foe, it drags the creature farther down, eventually forcing the creature below its surface. With the first successful check, the target gains the grappled condition. Grappled opponents can't move without first breaking the grapple (doing so requires a successful DC 20 combat maneuver or Escape Artist check). The ground receives a +5 bonus on combat maneuver checks to grapple opponents it is already grappling. After the second successful grapple combat maneuver check, the grappled creature is pulled to the ground and becomes prone. On the third successful grapple combat maneuver check, the creature is fully buried and must hold its breath or begin suffocating.

A buried creature can't attempt to escape unless the effect ends or it breaks the grapple. The DC to escape the grapple increases to 25 for a creature that has been pulled beneath the earth.

Example Ghouls

Sneaky Ghouls

While all ghouls are quiet and deadly in the night, these ghouls specialize in striking from cover or exploiting tactical advantages. They set up ambushes or fight using group tactics to claim their prey.

When ghouls marshal themselves into organized groups, it is ghoul commanders who shoulder the responsibility of leadership and command. In "civilized" ghoul cities and nations, ghoul commanders serve as an elite officer class, directing and commanding units of more common ghouls in military maneuvers and on excursions. While they receive their orders from ghouls higher up the chain of command, ghoul commanders are responsible for translating those orders into concrete tactics, and enjoy great autonomy on the battlefield—so long as their strategies succeed, at least.

Masked Murderer

Some ghouls walk in villages and cities, using disguises and magic to hide their nature. The masked murderer strikes from the shadows against the living.

Before Combat This furtive killer disguises herself as a human while stalking her targets. If at all possible, she avoids conflict, though her hunger sometimes gets the best of her.

During Combat If her presence is detected, the murderer begins combat by casting confusion . She then starts a bardic performance (typically dirge of doom). Before she actually enters melee, she casts allegro to gain additional attacks.

The masked murderer uses deception to get closer to her human prey, mingling among them without arousing their suspicion until it is too late for them to escape her clutches. Magic, particularly the fleshy facade spell, allows her to craft her deceptive appearance, and she knows how to disguise herself using mundane means so that she can at least hide her gruesomeness long enough to get to safety if her magic fails her.

Charm and lies pave the murderer's way through society. Typically, she begins small, making friends with low-class workers or farmers in taverns and alleyways, then luring them away to kill and devour them. This is rarely enough for a masked murderer, though, and in time she makes connections among the elite. This could be to satisfy her ego, but more often she wants to dine on the finer morsels of spoiled elites rather than the tough flesh of hard laborers.

Unfortunately for ghouls, spending so much time among the living serves only to highlight the life they traded away for the unending hunger of their undead existence. Many masked murderers find themselves conflicted as a result, envying the vibrant lives of their prey. In the end, however, a masked murderer's ghoulish hunger always overwhelms any other emotion she might feel, and she hunts her prey with as much ravenous fervor as any other ghoul, if not more.

Ancient Gravedigger

Years of digging up graves have given this ancient ghoul an affinity for earth magic. Powerful spellcasting ghouls usually rise to positions of leadership, and in his ghoul city, this gravedigger is a high-ranking member of the ruling elite.

Before Combat The ancient gravedigger prepares for combat by quaffing potions of greater magic fang and mage armor . He uses earth glide and crystal sight to observe foes fighting his underlings before he attacks.

During Combat The ancient gravedigger prefers to fight at range, relying on summoned creatures, flame strike, and spiritual weapon to deal damage while he uses earth glide and crystal sight to take cover from the fray. If he must enter melee, the gravedigger fights viciously.

During Combat A ghoul monarch avoids direct confrontation unless she can fight using dominate person or magic jar . The ghoul monarch starts combat by casting quickened grease and hungry earth, trapping as many spellcasters as she can in the effect. If the monarch has minions, she focuses on disabling and keeping enemies off guard rather than using direct damage spells. She targets powerful spellcasters with suffocation or black tentacles .

Morale A ghoul monarch flees to a safe haven or attempts to flee by burrowing underground at the first sign she is in serious danger.

Ghoul spellcasters use these smaller cousins to skavelings as familiars. An evil spellcaster can gain a sootwing bat as a familiar at 5th level by taking the Improved Familiar feat. A sootwing bat familiar grants its master a +1 bonus to channel resistance (if the master has any).

Ghoul Hound

This canine creature has sallow, dead skin stretched tight across its bones. Its teeth are long and yellowed.

Ghouls keep ghoul hounds much as humans keep hunting dogs—some ghouls view these vicious beasts as little more than tools, while more sentimental ghouls treat them as favored pets. Ghoul hounds obediently follow their ghoul masters.

Grathkoll (CR 2): A larger breed of ghoul hound, the grathkoll can be ridden by a Medium creature. A grathkoll is a ghoul hound with the giant simple template and a +10 bonus to its base land speed.

Encounters

Ghouls are cunning and versatile enemies, and can be used in many scenarios for an undead-focused campaign.

Second-Story Killers (CR 5)

These stealthy serial killers might live near the edge of a village or large city and terrorize the locals by breaking in and slaughtering entire families. After a few weeks of terror, they move on to another village and start the carnage anew.

Ghoul Creeper CR 3

XP 800

hp 37

Ghouls (2) CR 1

XP 400 each

hp 13 each

Ghoul Hunting Party (CR 10)

This hunting party could be searching for someone in particular, or might just be out trying to fill the larders. A hunting party might attack a small caravan near a less traveled road or even a small village.

Corpse Cat CR —

XP —

hp 16

Ghoul Commander CR 8

XP 4,800

hp 99

Ghoul Huntsmaster CR 7

XP 3,200

hp 80

Ghouls (4) CR 1

XP 400 each

hp 13 each

The Guild (CR 10)

A thieves' guild has a dark secret at its heart. The cost for crossing this guild is high, and apprentices who wash out are never seen again. This encounter works best as part of a series of encounters, and could be paired with the Second-Story Killers encounter or a selection of rogue stat blocks from Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex .

Ghoul Stalkers (2) CR 6

XP 2,400 each

hp 74 each

Masked Murderer CR 8

XP 4,800

hp 113

Grave Trouble (CR 12)

This pair of ghoul spellcasters and their bodyguards are much more than casual thugs. They are likely to be at the heart of a larger plot or traveling to secure a source of fresh meat for themselves and their kin. This encounter works well following the ghoul hunting party detailed above.